Dec 7, 2021: The US said Monday it would not send government officials to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing after China promised indefinite “retaliatory measures” against any such diplomatic boycott.

President Joe Biden said last month that he was considering such a diplomatic boycott amid criticism of China’s human rights record, with Washington claiming genocide against minority Muslims in its western region of Xinjiang.

In the daily press briefing at the White House, Jen Psaki the White House press secretary said, “The Biden administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games given the PRC’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses,”

“US diplomatic or official representation would treat these games as business as usual in the face of the PRC’s egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, and we simply can’t do that,” Psaki said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Psaki said the diplomatic boycott, which has been encouraged by some members of the US Congress for months, would not affect the attendance of US athletes. “Team USA players have our full support. We will be 100% behind them because we encourage them from home.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news briefing earlier in Beijing that those calling for a boycott are “grandstanding” and should stop “so as not to affect the dialogue and cooperation between China and the United States in important areas.”

“If the US insists in wilfully clinging to its course, China will take resolute countermeasures,” he said, without elaborating.

The United States is set to host the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, raising questions about China’s response. Beijing says it opposes the politicization of sports, but has in the past punished American sports leagues, including the National Basketball Association, for violating its political red lines. Chinese officials say they have received more than 1,500 applications from the US Olympic Committee, which is responsible for submitting the names of US athletes to the February Winter Games.

However, they cite tough CoVID-19 restrictions for plans to limit spectator attendance, and Chinese state media say Beijing does not intend to invite Western politicians who have threatened to boycott.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only leader of a large country to have accepted an invitation from China.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States was consulting with allies and partners on the Beijing Games in light of its concerns about China’s human rights record.

The head of the European Union’s diplomatic service, Stefano Cinino, said after meetings with US officials in Washington on Friday that China needed to keep up pressure on Xinjiang, but that any boycott would fall on individual member states.

Stay tuned to BaaghiTV for latest news and Updates!